LoR's Standard Format - Metagame Report: Returning After Two Weeks!

We've just left the Eternal competitive season. For two weeks, the Standard format was forgotten, and only those who really don't have any competitive ambition played that format in the last few days. As a result, some crazy things happened in that ranked queue and metagame while we were playing Eternal.

In this article, I separated some Standard lists and data for all players that are feeling lost. Even more so because we had the Variety Patch, which has only been played competitively in Eternal so far. Which means, we have new cards that haven't been explored in Standard yet!

As usual, during the Eternal competitive season, Standard left the competitive spotlight for most players, and consequently lists that are famous among casual players (such as Lurk) dominated the format. Which isn't surprising, considering this happened on the last two times we had the Eternal Runeterra Open.

This is the most popular Lurk deck in the last few days:

However, the greatest surprise this season was the resurgence of Zed Gwen as the most played list in the entire format. This archetype had most of its cards rotated, and is a low-tier deck even in Eternal.

Zed Gwen's popularity is explained by a meme on social media, in which the current Runeterra Open champion, Aikado, posted an image with Eternal stats, showing Zed Gwen decks. After that, this list's popularity increased a lot and went from a bit over 100 matches registered to more than 5000 in just a few days.

The Zed Gwen list will probably not remain at the top of the data for long, as it is an experimental deck and isn't optimized for this format. The best competitive choices for Standard, actually, are Midrange lists.

And that is easily observed by seeing what is the most played list currently: Shen Jarvan IV, which is a deck that is more prepared than any other list to deal with the meta.

Let's see what are, most likely, the best deck choices for Standard's competitive scene, post Variety patch.

Jax Ornn - This list is currently the greatest power house in all of Runeterra, and it is the deck that dominates the meta - not only in Standard, but also in Eternal.

In Standard, this list is the only one that can play big units, unit removal, Frostbites and card draw, everything in one single list.

Jax Ornn will probably still be the best competitive pick, at least until the next patch, and that is why it will always be my first suggestion if you want to play in tournaments in the next few days.

Galio Udyr - This list was the competitive list that dominated the last Standard Runeterra Open, apart from Jax Ornn decks. That is because it is the combination of cards that has a similar style to Jax's archetype, but with a bit more incisive win conditions, such as Galio.

This deck brings the strongest region combination in the format nowadays, if you want to deal with anything the meta can throw at you.

Gnar Darius - This might be the safest option for those who want to climb ranks in the ranked queue, and those who still haven't reached Masters in this Standard ranked season.

This list is quite fast and easy to pilot, and, undoubtedly, is the most solid deck in terms of win condition variety. Almost all units you play on board are, or at least work as, a win condition for your list, from the very first turns onward.

It is also very strong in tournaments and is a good alternative to complete your lineup if you can't find a third deck.

We've had, early on in the Eternal competitive season, the Variety Patch, which brought new cards to the game which we haven't had the opportunity to test out in Standard yet.

So, here are 3 decks that will probably be playable with the new cards.

Portia with Heimerdinger and Norra - The new Dragon, Portia the Peculiar, is very fun and fits Norra and Heimerdinger's archetype like a glove. This deck was already one of the best options in Standard, and, now that this card has been added, it might be even better, particularly when it faces slower opponents in this format.

Even though it is a very heavy card, we have already noticed that the value it creates is many times enough to turn the game in your favor, even though it is an effect that is very vulnerable to bad RNG. That is because there are a few Titanic cards that are extremely weak. However, as most have strong effects, it is easy to say that, in general, you'll be well off in the match even after paying 9 mana to play Portia the Peculiar.

Annie Jhin with Enraged Firespitter - This Dragon was one of the main characters in the last Runeterra Open, and is surely one of the best additions to the Annie Jhin list.

This deck was altered to support this Dragon's game style, which is why we have units such as Reckless Trifarian, and Might: to finish games dealing unmeasurable Overwhelm damage.

Apart from these cards, it is still a simple Annie Jhin deck; you'll deal a lot of damage very early on, besides Stunning your enemy's units to win the match.

Volibear Tryndamere with Boadir of Blackened Ice - This list is also a Warmother's Call deck, which was recently buffed. It is an extremely slow Control deck, focused on removing all enemy units, to eventually create a lot of value by summoning gigantic units for free on the board.

It is the most consistent option for tournaments, as it is an archetype that loses a bit for faster lists, like Lurk. So, in tournaments, with a ban option, you can manipulate your matchups and like so have better results with this list.

I'd say it is the best translation of the Ramp archetypes we have in Eternal to Standard, and is still extremely consistent, because of the Control identity Shadow Isles takes on in Standard.

If you've read this far, now you know everything that happened in Standard while we were playing the Eternal format.

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